To celebrate Women’s History Month, Three Rooms Press highlights these three books centered around powerful and determined women, and their impact on history. Check out the titles below, or head over to the collection on our store for Women’s History Month HERE.

LAST BOAT TO YOKOHAMA: The Life and Legacy of Beate Sirota Gordon
by Nassrine Azimi and Michel Wasserman

In 1946, a remarkable woman secretly helped create Japan’s new constitution, contributing a revolutionary article, which stated: “All of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.” Few could imagine that these words were the work of a then twenty-two-year-old Vienna-born, naturalized American of Ukrainian-Jewish descent who had grown up in Japan. Her name was Beate Sirota, and she remains an idol for generations of Japanese women to this day. Moreover, her remarkable early-life achievement with the constitution was followed by four decades of trailblazing cultural work, bringing authentic Asian music, dance and theatrical performers to the United States—often for the first time ever—thus bridging East and West through art.

YIPPIE GIRL: Exploits in Protest and Defeating the FBI
by Judy Gumbo

In 1968, a 24-year-old woman moved to Berkeley, California and immediately became enmeshed in the Youth International Party, aka The Yippies, a recently-formed satirical protest group. In the next few years, Judy Gumbo (a nickname given her by Eldridge Cleaver), was soon at the center of counter-cultural activity—from protests in People’s Park, to meetings at Black Panther headquarters, to running a pig for President at the raucous Democratic National Convention in Chicago, a protest that devolved into violent attacks by the police and arrests that led to the notorious Chicago Conspiracy Trial. In this insider feminist memoir, Gumbo reveals intimate details of her fellow radicals Jerry Rubin, Anita & Abbie Hoffman, Eldridge Cleaver, Paul Krassner, Stew Albert, and more, detailing their experiences in radical anti-war protests and her own skirmishes with and victory over illegal FBI surveillance. Yippie Girl explores Gumbo’s life as a protester to show that, while circumstances always change, protesters can stay loyal to the causes they believe in and remain true to themselves. She also reveals how dogmatism, authoritarianism, and interpersonal conflict can damage those same just causes, offering a timeless and strategic guide for activists today protesting against injustice in all its forms.

NO STOPPING US NOW
by Lucy Jane Bledsoe

A powerful, moving story about finding one’s own voice through the joys of sports, love, and the strength of sisterhood. Louisa loves to play basketball, but in 1974, her Portland, Oregon high school only offers a team for boys. An encounter with feminist Gloria Steinem teaches her about Title IX—the law that bans discrimination based on gender—so she asks her principal to start a girls team. Little does she know that she’ll soon be viciously targeted by male coaches at her school, lied to by the school board, and fall in love—a couple of times—as she fights for a fair chance to be an athlete. Based on the author’s true story, it is a compelling examination of the courage it takes to stand up for what’s right.